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Show S&IV Jhn tiers eu w. it. i Polack said: "Oh, he's wonderful fella." Chuck said: "He's bes' fella whole Invasion." Polack said: "Oh, he's better'n that. He's perfec'." Chuck said: "No, he Bin' perfect. per-fect. He don't drink. But he's good. Oh, he's good's hell. These wops, they think he's perfect. He's bes' thing ever happened to this town." Polack said: "What's 'at prove? Prove It's hell of a war. Don't change a subjec'." Bill said: "Una due tre una due tre." Chuck said: "Shut up your counting. count-ing. Bill. I'll prove it's hell of a war. It's all 'cause of the Major." Polack said: "How's he prove anything any-thing if -he don't drink?" Chuck said: "Here's how he proves everything. He's bes' thing ever happened to this town, but he's gon- T1IB STOIIY THUS FAR: The Amerl. enn troops arrived In Atlano. with Major Joppolo, the Ami; of olllcer In charge. Sorgennt llorth was to charge of. securl. ty. The Major was determined to hold tho confidence- ot tlif. pooplo and to replace re-place their bell stolen by the Nazis. Despite De-spite orders Issued by General Marvin, barring carls from the city, Major Joppolo Jop-polo recalled the order, to permit lood and water to enter the city. M. Caco-pardo Caco-pardo asked permission from the Major to see General Marvin and live him information in-formation on German troop movements. When he arrived tho General refused to Listen to htm and had Cacopardo tossed out. The general Immediately recalled Major Joppolo's name. CHAPTER XIV "I don't know whether ha has been captured or killed or what. That Is the bad part. That is why I wanted to talk with you. Mister Major. Giorgio and I were going to be married." pr-t, it's got to be good, 11 it's for him." Polack said: "It was Bill's idea. What'li we give him, Bill?" Bill said grandly: "Uno due tre quattro cinque." 1 Chuck said: "He's no good, nlm and his numbers. We got to think of something, Polack, we got to." ! Polack said: "Let's go back and get those bottles. Maybe they'd help us think of something." Chuck said: "That's hard, to thin of somethin' good enough for that Major." Polack said: "I can think of a lot of things, but not a one of 'em Is good enough. The trouble with that Major is he's too good. Now you give me a lousy Major, and I'd have you a present in no time." Chuck said: "It's a hell of a war when you can't even think of a goin'-away goin'-away present for a good guy." Polack said: "Sayl I Just thought im get rucKea. now is mai any Kina of a war?" Polack said: "Who's gonna kick him? Show me the stiff who's gonna kick him." Chuck said: "General Marvin's gonna kick him, that's who." Polack said: "Oh, he kicks everybody, every-body, I don't see nothln' special about that." Chuck said: "Yeah, but look, Polack, Po-lack, here you got a guy who's best thing ever happened to this town, I mean he unnerstands these people, of somethin' terrible. Are you sure this Major's goin' away?" Chuck said: "Didn't I see that slip of paper?" Polack said: "That's right. Shall we give him a bottle of ol' lady Fatta's wine?" Chuck said: "Polack, you know that's not good enough." Chuck said: "Polack, I think you're drunk. What's the matter with you?" "Well, what do you want me to do?" "Can you find out for me whether he Is a prisoner, Mister Major?" , "What do you expect me to do, go through all our prison camps and ask all the men 11 they are the aweetheart of Tina In Adano?' "You must have some lists, don't you?" "That is none of my business. I am civil affairs officer of Adano." "Please help me, Mister Major. Bill said: 'One, two, three, lour, five. Why don't you borrow something some-thing from old Four Eyes here to give the Major? You'd find a real nice goin'-away present right here in this house il you just got up and looked for It." Chuck said: "Bill, why don't you have more ideas? You got the best Ideas when you have 'em." Polack said: "Yeah, good Idea, I let's borrow something." Chuck said: "Bill, you don't even know how good your ideas are when you have 'em. Look: this Major, he's Italian himself, speaks it like a native. . He sure is gonna appreciate appreci-ate something Italian from old Four Eyes' house. Boy, Bill, I don' know why you aren' a millionaire with the Not knowing Is worse than having him dead." "A hundred people come In my office every day asking me this. I tell you It Is none of my business. The war Is still going on, can't you Understand that? We have a campaign cam-paign to fight. We can't just stop In the middle of battle and open up a question-and-answer service for forlorn lovers." "Oh don't. Mister Major, don t. You had been so nice to me. I thought" .,,, "Is this why you were cordial to me? Is this why you sent your father fa-ther to Invite me to your house? So that I could track down your lover?" lov-er?" Major Joppolo stood up. "I'm sorry that you have a mistaken Idea ol how I wont, u j"U business to do with me, do not In-vlte In-vlte me to your home and feed me candy. Come to my office. I will give you equal treatment with all the others." And he turned and went Into the living room, where Captain Purvis was shaping . heart with his two thumbs and forefingers and then pointing first at himself, then at Francesca. "I'm going home, Captain. What lor?" "Oh, I'm led up with this, I m going go-ing home." . ,. "Well you'll excuse me 11 I don t come. I never thought I'd ever get anywhere talking with my fingers, but this Isn't bad. See you tomorrow. tomor-row. Major." It is very rare lor an M.P. to drink anything, even vino, to excess, ex-cess, but Corporal Chuck Schuta ideas you gut. Bill said: "Una and tre is quattro. quat-tro. Due and tre is cinque. I can even add." Chuck said: "Let's go an' find something 'fore we pass out." Polack said: "Lookit that room, like a Gran' Central Station. There's a lot of Eyetalian junk in there.' Chuck said: "Let's have look." Polack said: "Why'n we give'm a chair?" Chuck said: "Good idea. Take the shroud ofi'n a chair, give 'im a chair." Chuck and Polack skated across the floor to a chair. They bent over it to take the slip cover off. Their fumbling hands could not find where to loosen the cover. "Lif it up," Chuck suggested. "Look at it from unnerneath." So they lifted the chair above their heads. Polack reeled. Chuck lost . . . mn AUnis nTQcViOi id the "Not knowing Is worse than having him dead." that old General Marvin he's was . rare M.P. His rwo .. Bill and Polack. were in the Engl neer Battalion which wa, workmg .round Adano. They were billeted to the same house with Chuck and XckdBm'and Polack did I not. drink vino in order to savor it on SSr tongues. They did not drink U to compare It with other wines "hlVtheyhad had on other occa- li,,,,,, Thev did not drink It to Seafood. They drank it to g4feore it was not surprising thM on the night when they bought toee bottles for three dollars, tliey wan quite early In the evening to 7 i? riirtv lokes, then sang some teU iLn argued a little, then tTandcidedtogolora gonna bust him down to Corporal, just like me. f Now what kind ol a war is that?" Bill said: "Cinque quattro tre due uno. Backwards. Cinque quattro tre due uno." Polack grew suspicious. He said. How you know? Does the old gen-eral gen-eral teU you who he's gonna bust and who he's not?" Chuck said: "I seen the paper." Polack said: "Bustin' him? rhuck said: "No, the paper 'at's S to get him busted. Trapani fndme.wetriedtohidelt.butthe Cap'n found It. ,t0 get the Major busted when old pie- fapolSaeck said: "Jeez, can you imag-taVr.Henof.w.r. imag-taVr.Henof.w.r. . his grip, me "" " floor, and a leg broke off. Bill picked the leg up. Chuck said: "Too much trouble, lousy chair." Polack spotted a terra cotta bust standing on a marble pillar-like stand in one corner. "Who's at? Bill said, as If positive: "Garibaldi." "Gari-baldi." , Polack said: "Le's give m a Garl-bally Garl-bally " And he went over to the corner cor-ner lilted the bust off the pillar, started uncertainly back toward the others lost his balance, and dropped the bust. It broke Into hundreds of pieces. -Polack looked over the mantel at a painting of a lat nude. She was lovely in his wine-washed eyes, and he said: 'Give'm a woman. A Ma-i Ma-i naD. fl woman." I w.rurnoCT5 rthVayed in their billet sion and blurreo Polack said: "Chuck, you proved -r:aidHeU"IeWque best. ThuSr 'Sn dirty stinkin' Icrsaidr ''HeU ol a war. you take and ruin the bes' man you got"" . .oW- "I like that Major, JsToVsfldon'tUtlorhimto1 k''-T'sTe JsVajor, but you he . the best Major you ever -e, yT Wwar myself for bustin' him." unfair war myse ought So the three worked together to eet the painting down. They balanced bal-anced themselves on chairs and erunted and all lifted on the bottom edge of the painting. They managed man-aged to lift it off its hook, but they could not keep It balanced. The picture pic-ture fell, and its canvas hit the back of a chair, and the fat woman was ripped from flank to flank Polack said: "Le's go in 'nother rThey went into a dining room. In one corner there wa, a big glass-faced glass-faced cabinet containing Venetian llassware on shelves. "Give 'im Shin' to drink out of." Chuck sion ar.a id t them in But doing what they s trouble. Here Is why: Schultr On the way home, Chuc id: "Hellpfawar Polack said: Sn2"""l eet sick again t you gonna get a fee, good. Chuck said, un, nu, It's ju.' bell ? a wa- P0aCk-H tor toe ninetieth time aT-SS 55 " quattro -id: "Shup Bill. Prove It's hell of a war. Chuck. Chuck said: "Major. Polack said m fea. Chuck said. u Town HaU 'ella.-.Yeah i know the Polack said: ""Chk ..'-Joppolo. that's fei-low." fei-low." what about him? BiU said: Liny cinque cinque. r gets drunk, , Chuck sa,d. e But fae , never, never gets " I good tella." ChU methin' for that Major. Po-Se? Po-Se? wemotht to do somethin' lor bim" , coirt- "You said me a JuX Cnuc, We sure ought t0' .ir said- "What could we do. polack? Somethin' good. He de-P de-P . it somethin' good." CreejustTF.d's. What and me, could we do. ,. Chuck said Let ' polack said. UKay, v you thinkin'?" , ain.t Chuck said: Yean. g n s1dg'"uno due tre. We ought t0B;ve t guy a goin'-away pres- yoCuhs"dSrni?h" BiU. We'U give him f TTam- "WhafU we give polack sam. him. Chuck?" u of a Chuck said: That., pre3 tough one. For a go He tried the door of the cabinet, but it was locked. "Bill," he said "open this thing up. Don't just stan there with that club. Open up. Polack said: "Case of 'mergency, hreak glass an' pull lever. m stepped up and poised the h.ir lee "Una. due. tre," he said, S on three he let go. The glas. nt shared to the Boo, . The thre, Z . .taBKered forward to choose a "fyt First they dropped a bowL Then they dropped a glass swan. Then they dropped a b.g goblft Then they knocked the whole cabt et over and broke everything. The three men went from roorr to room this way. leaving a trail oi ruin behind them. ThefUllj ment grew as they saw thei, Chances dwindling of getting any Sin. ld enUgh dUra enough) for the Major Finally Chuck said. Hell of . war when you can't even find present in ol' Four Eye, house. (TO BE CONTINUED) . . 3-;.- '. iriif1'- J B' |
